Chris123NT's Blog

Well after a few weeks of downtime due to an untimely server crash that took my database with it, we’re back!  I found a backup from July 25, 2009 and restored it.  I think I lost one post but that’s not a big deal.

I apologize to everyone for not getting to this sooner, but I’m just glad to have it running again.  When the crash first happened I was really worried about the amount of information that was lost, but thankfully 95% of it was recovered.  I will be posting here regularly now so you can check back every so often and feel free to re-subscribe to my RSS feed .

-Chris123NT

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Paul.

Before I kick off this editorial let me just state that I am no big-time tester and I haven’t even participated in a Windows beta (yet), but I do have some knowledge about such beta programs, I have people who may be considered “big-time” testers that I regularly talk to, and at the moment I’m participating in both the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Beta and the Office 2010 Technical Preview, which is really the catalyst for me writing this article.

To me, it seems as though the quality of Microsoft beta programs is really starting to decrease with every program they run. In some cases, testers feel as though they’re picking the worst feature suggestions and not implementing the ones that the majority want, and in other cases beta programs seriously lack build drops that would allow the testers to see the progress of their bug reports and iron out any new bugs that may surface from new feature additions and any under the hood code changes.

I don’t know who here remembers, but I participated in the Windows Live Messenger 9 beta last year or so, and an overwhelming amount of suggestions were marked as “Won’t Fix”. It seemed as though the WLM team jumped with joy when a suggestion to make winks even more annoying then they already are came about, but features that would really make WLM better such as tabbed browsing were left in the dark and not implemented.

More recently, with the Windows 7 beta and now the Office 2010 Technical Beta (not the preview, but the beta), people aren’t all too happy about the lack of build drops. Back in the Vista days, testers got CTP builds to play around with whereas this time around Windows 7 testers only got the Beta and RC builds—the same builds that were given out to the public. And now, with the Office 2010 betas, the team seems uptight and closed-minded to the very thought of handing out additional build drops. The build given out is 4006, while the build that leaked recently is build 4302, meaning that there’s a gap of 296 builds!

Now I understand where Microsoft is coming from, as getting builds ready for release to testers is a time-consuming task that will prolong the development time, which is the case with the Windows 7 as we clarified a few months ago, but it’s seriously worth it, especially when more and more changes are made to the software causing more bugs to be present. Perhaps if testers got more builds to examine and squash bugs in, more features could be implemented smoothly as well.

If connect testers in programs for Microsoft’s two most important pieces of software, Office and Windows don’t get any builds the public doesn’t get, then what’s the point in having such an exclusive program to begin with? You guys might as well shut down Connect and just get public feedback if this approach to the betas spread to more and more programs. Microsoft Connect has a great member base with many skilled people in the field, so please utilize them to their full potential and benefit from what they have to offer.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know that Microsoft is inundated with feedback and suggestions from all fronts whenever a product is being developed, and I’m not asking them to view every single submission and personally reply to the person thanking them, but I’m just saying that the Connect betas are deteriorating and they can really be MUCH better—I mean isn’t the point Connect exists is to gather feedback and suggestions mainly from a good number of IT Pros, enthusiasts, and others that are skilled in the field and passionate about Windows and Microsoft software?

Does anyone have anything to add to this, or do you disagree? I’d definitely like to hear from other Connect testers regarding my opinions stated in this article, and I’d seriously like to hear how this new approach to the Connect betas is good. Better yet, I’d like to see comments from program managers, etc. on this.

Digg this story!

So as we all know, Microsoft announced the pricing details for Windows 7 yesterday, and some people are already waving the Snow Leopard 29.99 upgrade price around.

ZDNet Blogger Ed Bott had taken the time to read the fine print on the Apple upgrade offer and has come to an interesting conclusion.  Windows 7 is CHEAPER than Snow Leopard for the majority of the market.

You see, you can only actually get Snow Leopard for that 29.99 price if you’ve bought an Intel based Mac AFTER October 2007.  Anything before that will cost you $169 and anything before 2006, well you’re SOL, no upgrade for you.  Kind of puts things in perspective doesn’t it?  At the end of the day the Microsoft offer is actually pretty darn good, at least it’s cheaper than Vista right?

Here’s a chart Ed made that breaks things down nicely:

Full Story: Ed Bott’s ZDNet Blog

So yeah, I’ve moved this site to a new server.  More precisely, MY OWN server.  I have done this to better control reliability and uptime, and no longer have to worry about outside factors causing unnecessary downtime of this site.

So If you can see this, welcome!

If you see any issues, please do not hesitate to contact me, and I will get them fixed.  New server so there might be a few little hiccups here and there.

Yesterday, I posted a quick and dirty article entitled “Apple Tax: Stealing your Benjamins, one wallet at a time“, with the purpose of illustrating the difference in cost between a Dell Studio XPS 16 notebook which was fully loaded, and a base model MacBook Pro with memory upgraded to match that of the Dell (so that the configuration was similar).

One of the comments on that article made me wonder if the Reality Distortion Field turns a persons perception of life into pure gold in fields of roses…

gremme had this comment:

You should not buy it if you aren’t willing to pay a premium for good service and construction and a sleek look. Not only that, but you also are buying into the mac experience and lifestyle. If you don’t have the money then buy your dell, you get what you pay for.

A premium for good service? AppleCare in many countries (including Canada) doesn’t even offer mail-in service for MacBooks, which is pretty bad considering Dell, HP, Gateway, Lenovo, and Acer have been doing this for years (some even go above that by offering next business day on-site repair service and accidental damage coverage). Having to drive for an hour to drop a $2,000+ notebook off at an Apple Service Provider isn’t exactly the best solution.

Good construction? Need I mention the many issues with the Mini DisplayPort adapter and external monitors not working? I mean, using an external display with a notebook has only been possible for years… no reason for this not to work. How about those with scratches on the aluminum enclosure straight from the factory… dust under the glass screen covering… glass screen covering coming loose from the display unit… uneven lids… issues waking up from sleep…

As for “buying into the Mac experience and lifestyle”, this statement makes me believe even more that there’s some sort of cult surrounding Apple. Did I miss the memo where spending $2,700 on a notebook, leaving it on your desk and admiring it in all of its “premium design glory” was classified as normal?

As I wrap this post up, I just wanted to also point out a comment left by stephen which just made my day:

“Yes because we buy a laptop to stare at it all day and think about how good-looking it is. Macs are economically just as much as a lifestyle as Starbucks, and you can see where they’re going. Yeesh.”

For the purpose of full disclosure, I was a Mac user for the past year. I never have, and never will, agree with the Reality Distortion Field.

Editors note: This is a guest post by Kristan Kenney.

Here are two notebooks which are very similar in configuration and features:

Apple MacBook Pro:

• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2×2GB
• 320GB Serial ATA @ 7200
• SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 256MB
• Backlit Keyboard (English) / User’s Guide
• Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter
• Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter
• AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro (w/or w/o Display) – Auto-enroll

Price: $2,706.00

Dell Studio XPS 16:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (3MB cache/2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit
• 3Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
• Edge-to-Edge HD Widescreen 16.0 inch WLED LCD (1366×768) W/2.0 MP
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
• 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 8X DVD+/- RW(DVD/CD read/write) Slot Load Drive
• ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 – 512MB
• Intel® 5100 WLAN Wireless-N (1×2) Half Mini Card
• High Definition Audio 2.0

Price: $1,518
Difference (also known as the “Apple Tax”): $1,188.00

What the hell? Even if you deduct the retail price of iLife ‘09 and Mac OS X Leopard, you’re still paying an extra $980, and for what? A “multi-touch glass trackpad” which for the most part is useless as you can’t configure the gestures, and an aluminum enclosure (which can be attributed to beer cans and Faraday cages the world over). Having used a MacBook Pro, I can tell you this – there are better things that you could spend that $1,188 on. Like useful software. Or groceries.

Editors note: This is a guest post by Kristan Kenney

News has come down the grapevine that Microsoft have already branched off winmain and started compiling RC1 branch builds, no doubt preparing for the public release of Windows 7 RC.  This tells me that Microsoft is far ahead of schedule with Windows 7 development and are going full speed ahead to get this release polished up and done.

This news has come to us in the form of a build tag which sports the typical naming scheme for milestone branch builds.  7048.winmain_win7rc1.090211-1625 is the tag.  As you can see, this build was compiled on February 11th 2009 at 4:25 PM.  On one hand it is good to see Microsoft moving this quickly with the development of Windows 7, but on the other it is a little concerning.  Microsoft have only officially released one build (7000) which went to beta testers and the public alike.  One build is not enough to gather enough feedback to move ahead this quickly IMO.  Windows is a far more complex piece of software than Office and I hope Mr. Sinofsky can learn that before this beta cycle is over.

Beta testers (and the public) will likely see RC1 within the next month or two and then likely will not see anything until Microsoft declare Windows 7 to be RTM, thus making the technical beta utterly USELESS.  I am a part of the Windows 7 beta and I am not pleased with what I am seeing.  There is no incentive to testing anymore, anything we get the public gets, so can someone remind me why I’m on the techbeta?  We have gotten no new builds, our feedback is not being taken seriously, etc…  Granted they have the public testing and they are getting BOATLOADS of SQM data, but that simply isn’t enough.  That won’t fix rogue usability issues, or odd app incompatibility issues, or driver issues etc…  So if anyone from the beta team reads this, please rethink your strategy and think about releasing some more builds for testing.  It can’t hurt, it can only help the end product.

So anyway, I know I drifted off into a bit of a rant but I feel the above needed to be said, and hopefully this feedback is taken seriously by the Windows team (hey there’s a chance, it’s not like we’re dealing with the Windows Live team, those people don’t know the meaning of the word feedback).

Source: Geeksmack

Discuss: Geeksmack Forums

So welcome to the new look for this blog.  Hope you all like it.  Decision behind this was to create something sleek, yet lightweight.  And standards compliance was an absolute must.  Now that goal has been achieved and this site renders well in all browsers we have tested, INCLUDING IE8 (Yeah I know, amazing isn’t it?).

So I hope you all like it, leave your feedback in the comments section and I will read through it.

Big thanks to Kristan Kenney for his work on the theme .

So today we did the first episode of the Geeksmack podcast.

Join Greig Mitchell (filling in for Ryan Price as he couldn’t make it), Chris Holmes, Iian Kehn, and in this premiere episode our special guest Rafael Rivera from WithinWindows.com to discuss the latest technology news freshly picked from our front page, along with a few discussion topics.

Here’s what will be discussed in the first ever episode of the GeekSmack Podcast:

News Discussion:

Quick Launch Returns!

Windows Live; Office Live to Combine

Apple Says No to Netbooks and to A Low-End iPhone

Circuit City Closeout Deals Not Deals At All?

Intel To Focus On 32nm Fabrication Process

The Main Discussion:

Will Windows 7 Save Microsoft?

Will Windows 7 Be a Linux Killer?

The infamous CEIP bug, and why it shouldn’t have happened

Windows Experience Index ratings for Hard Drives are completely wrong.

The podcast can be downloaded or obtained via iTunes (coming soon).

Name: GeekSmack Podcast – Episode 1

Track #: 1

Duration: 51:22

File Size: 117MB

Download: Episode 1 – iTunes (not available yet)

Discuss: GeekSmack Forums

Ok, sorry everyone about the site going down yesterday.  Seems someone decided it would be funny to try and fuck with the database on me.  So whoever they are I hope they die – in a fire.

So please bear with me while I finish getting everything back, going to re-import the comments table tonight and then after that all *should* be well.  Again, sorry for the inconvenience.

Edit: Comments now imported, i think we’re back in business